European Cup Matches Tonight: Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen & More
Welcome to another night of electrifying European Cup football. 9 games are set for tonight, featuring three British clubs in action. Chelsea meet Barcelona in the key match of the night, while The Magpies travel to Marseille and City host Leverkusen.
League Table
It's the halfway point of the league stage, so the rankings is starting to take shape. Each of the six English sides are currently in the top 12, however there are only two points separating fifth and sixteenth position, so there's a whiff of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. Everything is to play for.
Tonight’s Fixtures
Here are tonight’s matches, each kicking off at 8pm unless stated:
- Benfica lead Ajax 1-0 (5.45pm)
- Union SG and Galatasaray level at 0-0 (5.45pm)
- Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
- Chelsea v Barcelona
- Dortmund v Villarreal
- Leverkusen visit Man City
- Newcastle travel to Marseille
- Napoli v Qarabag
- Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao
Squad Updates
Fofana, Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao all come into the Blues team. Excluded are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Delap.
Lamine Yamal starts for Barcelona; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.
Chelsea (possible 4-3-3) Robert Sanchez; James, Wesley Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Gusto, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Liam Delap, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Joshua Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.
Barcelona (probable 4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Robert Lewandowski.
Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.
Official Vincic (Slovenian).
Historical Context
The only previous meeting between Marseille and Newcastle was the Europa League semi-final of 2004, won by an emerging star from CĂ´te d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Chelsea and Barcelona have a peedie bit of history.
Early Match Updates
Just one goal during the opening period of the early fixtures. Samuel Dahl's sixth-minute goal has given Benfica under Mourinho a 1-0 lead away to Ajax.
Marseille v Newcastle Preview
Even though Newcastle traveled to the south of France fresh from their restorative 2-1 home Premier League victory against City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Bilbao in the European Cup, their sole on the road win since early April came in Brussels at Union SG.
It's not that Eddie Howe was eager to talk about the psychological aspect of this travel sickness. “The Champions League is different to Premier League games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the Champions League standings, with 9 points from a possible twelve and direct qualification to the knockout phase nearly secured. “I am not sure if you can draw parallels between them.”
A dedicated live feed is available for Barcelona vs Chelsea. Scott Murray, the minute-by-minute version of Diego Maradona is handling for that.
